1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to network data communications. The invention is more specifically related to caching operations for increased efficiency in information flow between server and remote clients. The invention is more specifically related to network management communications.
2. Discussion of Background
Networks have become important, strategic foundations for competing in a global economy. And every day, more users and more business activities step into the network realm. Users are demanding that access to the network be delivered with the same simplicity, reliability, quality, and flexibility associated with picking up a phone and calling anywhere in the world.
In this network-centric environment, the behind-the-scenes designers and operators of networks face three concurrent challenges:
Networks are growing larger and more dispersed.
With each new user comes another PC, many of them notebooks and a growing number are scattered to remote locations, users' home offices, or all corners of the earth in the hands of mobile workers. While the initial capital cost of PCs gets a lot of attention, the greatest chunk of technology budgets goes to maintaining and managing users' connections. Lowering total cost of ownership (TCO) for a growing PC population means finding a way to simplify and automate management and troubleshooting of desktops, servers, and mobile PCs spread across the business. It also means enhancing the fault tolerance of servers so Information System (IS) staff escape the need to constantly fine-tune performance or deal with emergencies.
Networks are growing more complex.
New technologies and applications are reaching into corporate networks at an accelerating pace. More users and greedier applications are competing for bandwidth. Fully switched local networks are common. Consequently, it is growing more difficult to monitor performance and pinpoint problems. It is essential to gain increased visibility into today's complex networks.
Networks are growing more critical.
Businesses are using information technology as a competitive advantage. And those that are getting the strongest return on their investment are graduating from e-mail and office applications to business-critical, production applications-process controls, customer service, medical imaging, e-commerce and others. In these situations, near-100-percent network availability is essential-the days of overnight outages lasting up to several hours are over.
Along with this need for nonstop networks comes a need for greater control over, and information about, how traffic moves through the network. Companies are deploying applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), sales automaton, e-commerce, distributed training, and voice-over-IP (VoIP) at a rapid pace. This business-critical and, in the case of voice and video, delay-sensitive traffic needs to move through the network unobstructed by lower-priority activities such as e-mail or Internet browsing.
Therefore, IS managers need tools capable of providing network support for these critical business objectives on an immediate real time basis. The supporting information is preferably provided in an intuitive format that allows the managers to quickly find the needed information with simple searching and a minimum of additional research. However, because of display complexities, and lack of available tools, the data presented to IS managers is not presented as effectively as is preferred to allow quick and easy access to the data needed for making proper network management decisions.
Various network monitoring tools currently utilized to inform managers about the health of networks are know. A brief discussion of network devices, standards, the traffic crossing these networks, and some an available tools is now provided.
Networking Devices Standards
This specification presumes familiarity with the general concepts, protocols, and devices currently used in LAN networking applications and in WAN internetworking applications. These standards are publicly available and discussed in more detail in the above referenced and other co-assigned patent applications.
This specification also presumes some familiarity with the specific network and operating system components discussed briefly in the following paragraphs, including any of IEEE 802 protocol suite for Ethernet and Token-Ring LANs (including bridges), TCP/IP protocol suite (including IP routing), OSI's 7 layer communication model (including terms like PDU which is basically equivalent to an IP packet), Ethernet frame. Knowledge is presumed of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) for management of LAN and WAN networks, and reference is made to the following Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Internet Society RFCs 1157, 1155, 1212, 1215, (SNMPv1), RFCs 2587, 2579, 2580, 1906, 1907 (SNMPv2), and RFCs 2571, 2572, 2573, 2574 (SNMPv3), as well as associated RFCs. Knowledge is also presumed of ASN.1: Open Systems Interconnection—Specification of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1), International Organization for Standardization, and International Standards 8824, 8825. Knowledge is also presumed of the RMON MIBs defined for remote network monitoring and management as defined in RFCs 1902, 1213, 1905, 1757, 2021, and other associated RFcs.